Ezra 9:2

Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Leaders and officials deliver a report to Ezra detailing the widespread intermarriage between Israelite men and women from surrounding nations, following the initial warning recorded in Ezra 9:1.

The words — זֶרַע הַקֹּדֶשׁ (ze-ra ha-kodesh) = "the holy seed" or "offspring of holiness," used in the text to describe the Israelite lineage now intermingled with foreign peoples through marriage.

The thread — The practice of intermarriage with surrounding nations recurs in Nehemiah 13:23, which records Jews marrying women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab, and is addressed again in Ezra 10:2 when the community confesses this unfaithfulness.

Why it lands — It requires the reader to observe how covenant separation is compromised by political and social alliances, and how those in authority initiate and normalize the breach.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כִּֽי־ki-for נָשְׂא֣וּna.se.'Uthey have taken מִבְּנֹֽתֵיהֶ֗םmi./be.no.tei./Hemsome of/ daughters/ theirלָהֶם֙la./Hemfor/ themselvesוְלִבְנֵיהֶ֔םve./li/v.nei./Hemand/ for/ sons/ their וְהִתְעָֽרְבוּ֙ve./hit.'a.re.Vuand/ they have mixed themselves זֶ֣רַעZe.ra'[the] offspring of הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁha./Ko.desh<the>/ holiness בְּעַמֵּ֖יbe./'a.Meiwith/ [the] peoples of הָאֲרָצ֑וֹתha./'a.ra.Tzotthe/ lands וְיַ֧דve./Yadand/ [the] hand of הַשָּׂרִ֣יםha./sa.Rimthe/ leaders וְהַסְּגָנִ֗יםve./ha./se.ga.Nimand/ the/ officials הָֽיְתָ֛הha.ye.Tahit has been בַּמַּ֥עַלba./Ma.'alin the/ unfaithfulness הַזֶּ֖הha./Zeh<the>/ this רִאשׁוֹנָֽה׃ סri.sho.Nahfirst

King James Version

For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

Cross-references

Nehemiah 13:23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
Exodus 34:16 And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.
Ezra 10:2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.
Ezra 10:18 Among the descendants of the priests who had married foreign women were found these descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
Deuteronomy 7:1 When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—
Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
Exodus 19:6 And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Exodus 22:31 You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.
Deuteronomy 14:2 for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
Malachi 2:11 Judah has broken faith; an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.